


No Good Deed

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Happily Ever After [2]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Funeral, Post Finale, Post-Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24256012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Oliver and Chloe say goodbye to someone who had become a friend.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan, Past Oliver Queen/Tess Mercer
Series: Happily Ever After [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1750879
Kudos: 5





	No Good Deed

**May 14, 2011**

Chloe took a deep breath as she waited for the elevator to make its way to the top floor of the Clocktower. She hadn't expected to be back in Metropolis so soon after the events from the previous day, the last image she had remembered from Fate's helmet was Ollie with his bow, facing Desaad and the others and Clark flying toward the planet that had been moving toward Earth. Of course she hadn't remembered any of those details until she had seen the gold kryptonite on the ring.

But there were things she hadn't seen at all. She hadn't seen Lex's resurrection or Lionel's death. She certainly hadn't seen Tess' murder by the hands of her own brother and she wished she had been able to prevent it.

As the elevator reached the top floor, she pushed the gate open and looked around, setting her small carry on suitcase on the floor, "Ollie?"

He was sprawled out on the couch, one arm flung over his eyes and the other dangling over the side of the cushions. He started awake at the sound of her voice, and he blinked a few times and sat up. "Chloe?"

"Hey," she called, turning to look at him, "I didn't see you there."

He dragged a hand over his face and climbed to his feet, grimacing a little as he felt the aches and pains from his brief battle with Clark the day before making themselves known. "You got back fast," he murmured, moving toward her.

"Your pilot is efficient," she told him quietly, smiling a little as she walked toward him.

He smiled back, but it was faint, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly as he shut his eyes.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him just as tightly, closing her eyes too. "How are you doing?"

He was silent for a moment. "I didn't even really think about her," he admitted quietly.

"You were dealing with a lot, Ollie," she whispered, rubbing her hand over his back.

Oliver swallowed hard, nodding a little and lifting one hand up to the back of her head. "How are _you_ doing?"

"I'm okay," she whispered, lifting her head and kissing his cheek softly, "I wish I had known and we would have been able to stop it, but..."

He pulled back to look at her, searching her eyes. "I'm glad you're okay," he whispered back, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I'm glad we're all okay," she said quietly, looking up at him and brushing her nose against his softly.

Except Tess. He sighed very softly, his chest feeling tight once more. "It's been a rotten couple of days," he admitted.

"I know," she took a deep breath and dropped her hand from his back to his arm then pulled away, reaching for his hand. "The worst is over with." She said quietly, just holding him for a moment. Between finding out he had been infected, everything that had happened at the wedding and facing Darkseid's... whatever they were all on his own, she knew that was one hell of an understatement.

Oliver linked his fingers through hers, looking down at their hands for a moment. "We need rings," he said quietly.

Chloe blinked a couple of times and looked up at him then down at their hands too, "I don't know... the last ring was kind of a bad omen."

He winced at that, rubbing his thumb lightly over her ring finger. "The one before that wasn't so bad, though. Except it wasn't _real_."

With a deep breath, she squeezed his hand a little and nodded, "I suppose we could pick one out if it's important to you."

"I don't want to hide it anymore," he admitted. Though he'd never really wanted to in the first place.

She pursed her lips together and nodded slightly, looking down then back at him, "I know and maybe it's better if we don't..."

He lifted his gaze to meet her eyes. "I wasn't under their control the whole time."

Chloe held her breath at that and held his gaze, her heart beating faster all of the sudden, she'd been wondering, "do you remember everything that happened?"

Oliver pursed his lips, looking down for a moment. "I think so. At least, most of it."

Nodding slightly, she kept her eyes on him, watching him closely, "do you remember when we were at the church? Setting it up for the wedding?"

He smiled softly at that and met her gaze once more. "I do," he whispered, lifting his hand to her cheek.

Chloe held her breath at that and smiled both at his expression and his choice of words, which were more than a little fitting considering what she wanted to make sure of and she had no doubt that he knew that was what she'd been doing. "Do you remember how you got back to Metropolis?"

His eyebrows furrowed a little at that and he held his breath for a moment before shaking his head. "No."

She breathed, nodding slightly, "and I'm guessing you don't remember locking Watchtower up either?"

He blinked. " _I'm_ the one who crashed Watchtower?"

"You did a really good job on it too," she told him, smiling a little, "took me all of ten minutes to get back on."

A smirk touched his mouth. "Apparently even when possessed by an ancient evil alien force I suck when it comes to technology."

"Apparently I still have a lot to teach you," she arched her eyebrows, "ten minutes is a lot of time in hacker time."

He was quiet and watched her for a moment. "Chloe, did I...did I hurt anyone? Do you know?"

"Not anyone while we were at the wedding," she assured him, lifting her free hand to his cheek and brushing her fingers over it, "and I don't want you to focus on that. You _fought_ it, Oliver. You beat it and you helped stop it."

Oliver turned his head and kissed her fingers lightly. "All right," he whispered, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her closer once more.

Chloe took a deep breath and wrapped her arm around him once more, "did you get any rest?"

"A little." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "What about you? Have you slept at all?"

"Some," she nodded, "I slept on the plane."

"It's a short flight," he commented.

"Maybe we should both get some rest before we need to meet with Clark and Lois." She suggested holding his gaze. The funeral wasn't for another three hours or so and she knew Oliver well enough to know he hadn't gotten _any_ rest, despite what he was telling her.

He blew out a breath and nodded a little, his grip tightening just a little on her hand. "All right."

Nodding, she pulled away from him and led him down the hallway, toward the master bedroom where they had spent so many nights and mornings together before. Everything was different now and he really didn't know just _how_ different it was yet, but she would tell him when the time was right. For now, they had to get through Tess' funeral and deal with the fact that Lex Luthor was back.

* * *

Oliver stared blankly at the coffin a few feet away from him, covered in yellow roses. His chest was painfully tight as he blinked against the misting rain that had settled over Metropolis less than an hour before. It was appropriate weather for a funeral, he supposed. He drew in a breath as he watched Senator Kent walking away, her arm around Conner's shoulders, followed by Lois and Clark. The only one who remained behind was Emil, who laid a single red rose on the coffin, catching his gaze for a moment. He nodded slightly, his arm tightening just a little around Chloe's waist.

Chloe nodded slightly at the doctor too and tightened her arm around Ollie for a moment before looking up at him, "do you need a minute?" She whispered, she knew Tess was a big part of his past and she knew that what had happened between them on that island and after that was a big part of who he was, so she wanted to give him the chance to say his goodbyes in private if he needed to. She figured it might help him move on and maybe stop blaming himself for everything Tess went through.

He kissed her temple, then shook his head, letting her go and moving closer to the coffin. He rested his hand on it for a moment, staring at all the flowers. "You weren't like him," he murmured. "I hope you know that, wherever you are now. I'm sorry."

She held her breath and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering because of the rain as she lowered her head to give him some privacy.

He sniffed, shutting his eyes as a tear made its way down his cheek. "Goodbye, Mercy," he whispered.

Chloe swallowed hard as she listened to him, her own eyes tearing up. She had no doubt that Tess knew exactly what could happen when she went after Lex and Chloe knew she went after Lex to protect Clark and his secret. She had no doubt that Tess was proud of herself now, for doing what she wanted to, for erasing Lex's memories and protecting Clark's secrets from him, for stopping the one member that was left of her family from harming anyone, at least for now. There was no telling what Lex would do or if he would go back to being the monster he'd been before, but thanks to Tess, they could all be prepared for him if that ever happened.

She had been trying so hard to prove to herself and to everyone that she could be one of the good guys, to make up for everything that had happened with Zod and her sacrifice had been the biggest one any of them had made yet.

He pulled away slowly, exhaling and turning to face Chloe. His wife. His breathing hitched a little when he saw the tears in her eyes. He didn't attempt to smile, he simply moved to her side and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, protectively.

With a deep breath, she wrapped her arms around him instantly and held him tightly, feeling selfishly grateful that he was okay. She lifted her head and pressed her lips to his cheek, nodding a little. "Let's go home." She whispered, shivering once more as she pressed even closer to him for warmth.

"You're freezing," he murmured, shrugging out of his black jacket and draping it around her shoulders. Then he placed a kiss against her forehead. "Let's get out of here," he agreed.

"Thank you," she told him quietly, not arguing with the added warmth this time then nodding a little as she pressed against his side and started back toward the cars, where Lois and Clark were comforting Emil a moment before the doctor disappeared into his own SUV. Emil was a private man, but Chloe knew he had lost his wife just a couple of months before he joined Oliver and the boys and now, to lose Tess too, who he'd been getting involved with... she would make sure to check on him a little more often starting in a day or two.

"I love you." His voice was quiet as they walked toward his car. "You know that, right?"

"I love you," she whispered quietly, tightening her arm around him as she looked up at him, "and yes, I know." Somehow, it felt important to let him know she believed him.

He nodded a little and looked down at her. "Good," he murmured, leading her to the black SUV and opening the passenger side door for her.

Chloe glanced over at Clark and Lois and lifted her hand in goodbye, holding Clark's gaze for just a second before sliding into the car.

Oliver nodded toward the other couple, then looked back at his wife, taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to her knuckles before pulling away and shutting the door quietly.

She took a deep breath and pulled out the soaked jacket from her back then placed it on the floor, rubbing her hands over her arms and glancing at the driver's side when Ollie opened his door.

He slid into the driver's side and started the car, flipping the heat on and offering her a tiny, sad smile as he pulled his seatbelt on.

"Thank you," she told him, buckling her own seatbelt and turning the heat up as he pulled away from the curb then reaching for his hand and linking her fingers through it.

"You're welcome." He glanced at her sideways, giving her hand a light squeeze as he focused his eyes on the road ahead.

Chloe sighed softly and leaned back against her seat as she started to get warm then focused on the road ahead too.

No matter how many people they lost, and she knew that with lives like theirs, they were likely to lose even more than normal people did, it never got any easier.

There was no heroic, no selfless act that any of them could do that would make losing a team member or a close friend any easier.

But for the ones that were still standing, she knew the best they could do was be inspired by them and to fight harder.


End file.
